1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile communication networks and more specifically to a method and network for responding to incoming calls.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the increasing number of mobile terminals for personal communications along with the introduction of new and convenient services and features, mobile users are increasingly required to observe social standard. In particular, when a mobile user is in an environment where no incoming calls from external sources are prohibited, the mobile user has to set his mobile unit in a silence mode. Although the ringing signal is only perceived by the user, speech communication can disturb the atmosphere of the environment. To avoid this problem, the mobile terminal may be completely shutdown. However, the calling user has no way of knowing whether the battery power of the mobile terminal has simply run out or the mobile terminal is intentionally switched off.
Japanese Patent Publication 11-18159 discloses a mobile terminal in which a GPS (global positioning system) location detector is provided for communicating the location of the mobile terminal to the calling party so that unlimited attempts to reach that mobile terminal are prevented. Another technique disclosed by Japanese Patent Publication 2000-188781 utilizes two base station identifiers. A first base station automatically sets a mobile terminal in a silence mode when the identifier of this base station matches a first base station identifier stored in the mobile terminal. This silence mode is continued until the mobile terminal enters the cell of a second base station. When the identifier of the second base station coincides with a second base station identifier stored in the mobile terminal, the silence mode is released, restoring the mobile terminal to normal.
However, there is still a need for optimizing the mode of response to an incoming call according to a number of different situations.